


Infinitesimal Fins

by HiddenDreamer67



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: G/T, Giant/Tiny, Mermaids, Merman!AU, TINY - Freeform, mer!logan, mer!patton, mer!roman, mer!virgil - Freeform, mermaid!au, tinies, tiny!mermen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-25
Updated: 2019-05-31
Packaged: 2019-10-16 02:54:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 13,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17541302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenDreamer67/pseuds/HiddenDreamer67
Summary: "So, a mermen AU with the SidesOnly they’re all smol and goldfish-sizedAnd one day they’re captured and placed in a pet storeWithin separate fish tanksUnable to touch one anotherOnly able to watch and witnessAs one by one, they’re sold off to terrifying giant strangers..." -@secretglittersauce on tumblr





	1. Mer!Patton

**Author's Note:**

  * For [secretglittersauce](https://archiveofourown.org/users/secretglittersauce/gifts).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That one was the most restless while in the store, often flailing his little arms around as if he were trying to communicate with the human passersby...

It was hard to remember where it all went wrong. Patton had been swimming along with his brothers in the reef, patiently waiting for Virgil. The youngest had always had a bad fin.

Of course they heard the boat coming. From time to time a human vessel would disturb their waters, but the brothers knew what to do. They hid amongst the rocks, waiting for it to pass.

Except instead of passing the mermen by, the ship stopped. A toxic cloud was squirted into the water, causing Patton to gasp as his breath was forcibly taken away. He tried to escape, but everything around him suddenly seemed so blurry. What was happening? Where were his brothers?

Patton was forcibly yanked out of the water, one quick movement and the tiny merman was ripped from everything he had known. From there it was just a series of various cages, often kept in the dark as Patton shuddered in his corner. It was hard for Patton’s gills to work properly. Patton tried to call out to his brothers, but it seemed he was alone in his prison. He hugged his tailfin tightly to his chest, praying the others had escaped. Logan was smart, he could get away. Roman was fast, he’d outrun any human. But Virgil… well, Patton gulped, a fresh set of tears coming to his eyes as he realized the youngest merman had never really stood a chance.

Patton was torn. He wanted to see his brothers more than anything, hug them one last time. Why couldn’t he just be with them? At least if they were together, they could survive. That’s how they had always done things, ever since their parents were taken in a similar incident.

Patton gave a startled cry, shivering slightly as he was dumped into a new container.

“Whelp, last one.” Patton looked up, seeing the distorted human figure before him. He looked out through the glass, trying to figure out where the humans had taken him. There seemed to be rows upon rows of similar containers as far as the merman could see. Patton looked to his left and right, realizing he had a neighbor.

“ _Virgil!_ ” Patton cried happily in his mermaid tongue, spotting his little brother. Quickly Patton swam over to him, only to be stopped as Patton ran into a very hard wall. He groaned, cradling his head slightly before patting at the glass.

Virgil swam up to the other side, his mouth moving as though he were trying to frantically speak, but Patton couldn’t hear what he was saying.

“ _Virgil, it’s alright._ ” Patton tried to press himself even closer, noticing how much his brother was panicking. “ _Virgil, please, it’s okay-_ ”

It was no use. The more Patton tried to communicate, the more frightened Virgil seemed to get. Already the isolation was getting to him. Patton frowned, desperately looking around for any way to help.

A series of thuds shook Patton’s container. He glanced up, realizing it was a set of human footsteps. Patton’s eyes widened, getting an idea.

“ _EXCUSE ME!_ ” Patton yelled as loud as his lungs could manage, waving his arms desperately to get the human’s attention. “ _PLEASE, HELP!_ ”

“Look at this one, honey!” A human woman stopped, staring in at Patton. Patton froze briefly, before realizing this might be his only chance.

“ _You have to help me_.” Patton pleaded, trying to gesture between his own cage and Virgil’s by swimming back and forth. “ _Please, there’s been a mistake, we need to be together.-”_

“Aww, it’s like it’s trying to talk.” The woman cooed. Why couldn’t she understand how desperate this situation was?!

“ _Please, he’s my brother!”_  Patton insisted, getting as close as he dared to the human’s face. “ _Don’t do this! He needs me!_ ”

“C’mon, Harley.” The human male next to her pulled at her arm, tugging Patton’s chance away.

 _“NO!”_ Patton chirped desperately, swimming around frantically in little circles. “ _No no no no no-_ ”

“Oh, alright Brian.” She wasn’t even paying attention to him anymore. All she did was give Patton a condescending smile. “Bye, cutie.” She tapped harshly on the glass as if to say farewell, but all this did was produce a booming sensation that shook Patton to his core. Patton let out a small screech, desperately clamping his hands to his ears.

By the time the pounding in his head stopped, Patton opened his eyes to see both humans had left. Looking across the aisle, Patton’s eyes widened as he saw another familiar face.

“ _Roman!_ ” Patton called out, hitting his palms against the glass to try and get his brother’s attention. “ _Roman, over here!”_  But Roman seemed preoccupied with his own escape tactic. The red and gold merman was ramming into the wall relentlessly, as if trying to break the glass with his shoulder alone.

Patton’s eyes wandered over to the cage next to Roman. “ _Logan!_ ” It seemed both his older brothers hadn’t escaped after all. Logan also didn’t see his frantic hand waving. Instead, the dark blue colored merman was busy ripping apart his enclosure to shreds. Every so often a piece was tossed out entirely, splashing water down onto the floor far below.

It wasn’t long before the first human returned, muttering about ruined Starbucks breaks as he mopped up Logan’s mess. With a heavy thud, a cover was placed over the top of Logan’s cage. The dark blue merman winced, as did Patton in sympathy. Even though there was several feet of open air between them, Patton couldn’t fight the rising urge to go and comfort his brother.

A loud splashing noise caught Patton’s attention. He looked over in Virgil’s direction again, eyes widening when he saw what the youngest was attempting to do.

“ _VIRGIL!”_  Patton rushed back over to that side of the glass, chattering at about 100 words a second. “ _VirgilWhatAreYouThinkingOhPosideonGetBackInTheWater-_ ”

For indeed, Virgil was currently caught up on the lip of the cage after having launched himself out of the water. Virgil looked over at Patton, eyes wide with both determination and fear as he seemed to be prepping himself to try and jump further. Patton frantically shook his head, desperately trying to communicate for Virgil not to do it.

Of course, Virgil still couldn’t hear him. Virgil pushed himself fully out of the water, but failed to make it the remaining distance into Patton’s cage. Instead Virgil fell to the hard surface below with a thud, already panting slightly from the lack of water.

“ _Virgil!”_  Patton swam desperately back and forth in front of him, tail twitching nervously as he watched Virgil gasp for breath. Roman and Logan seemed to have taken note as well, both of their cries muffled by glass. Tears sprung to Patton’s eyes. “ _Virgil, please, no, don’t do this, we can’t lose you!_ ”

“Hey!” The human seemed to have finally noticed the commotion, coming over and directly grabbing Virgil up in his huge hands. “Gurl, what are you trying to do, get yourself killed?” A second later Virgil was dropped back into his own container. The youngest merman sat at the bottom of the tank, panting as he filled his gills with saltwater again.

Patton almost felt relieved when he watched the human put a roof on Virgil’s container, not wanting to sit back and watch his little brother get killed. In fact, the human put a roof on all of their containers for good measure. It seemed the human was done taking chances.


	2. Mer!Roman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The red and gold one kept ramming himself into the walls of his tank, as if trying to break it so he could reach the others...

_Roman coughed, the poison affecting his systems. He swam through the murky water, feeling a disturbance in the wave patterns as human hands descended from above. Roman dashed around, narrowly avoid their grasp. **  
**_

_“Did you find Virgil?” Roman asked, spotting his brother. Logan covered a cough of his own, swimming up next to Roman._

_“I thought he was with you!” Logan’s eyes widened. Both brother’s paled as the two heard a familiar scream._

_“PATTON!” Roman dashed in the direction of the noise, feeling the effects start to take a hold on him as his fins began to waver. His vision began to get hazy, his reflexes slowing. By the time a giant hand began to wrap around his form, Roman was unconscious._

—————————–

Roman winced at the memory, looking around at their current predicament. Patton still kept waving at the human customers as if they would listen. Roman rammed himself into the wall again, grunting at the impact.

“Hey!” Roman winced as a loud rumbling surrounded him on all sides, a side effect of the rude human customer rapping on the glass. “Knock it off in there.”

Roman glared up at the man, but he had already gone back to checking out his phone.

“No tapping on the glass.” The shopkeeper, Remy, sounded almost bored as sat behind the counter. The man only grunted in acknowledgement. His companion milled about the shop, assessing Roman and his brothers as if they were no more than mere wares.

“Brian, look at this one!” The female companion stopped in front of Logan’s cage. “It’s so cute.”

If the situation were less bleak, Roman would have snorted at the implication of Logan being ‘cute’. Logan paused his dismantlement of a plastic kelp toy to glare at her.

“Uh huh.” The human named Brian didn’t look up from his phone. “Whatever you say, Harley.”

Harley kept staring at Logan, almost transfixed. “I want this one.”

At this, all four mermen froze. This time Logan looked up at the humans more hesitantly.

“That one?” Remy came over, raising an eyebrow. “He’s kind of a pest. Too smart for his own good, likes to destroy your stuff.” Remy should know, considering the amount of times Logan had aimed jets of water at his face.

“It’s a fish.” Brian reminded him, placing an arm around Harley to show his support. “It’s brain is the size of a pea.”

“…Fine, whatever.” Remy rolled his eyes, grabbing the net. “Not my problem, I just work here, what do I know.” Remy lowered the net into the tank.

“ _Let him go!_ ” Roman yelled. Logan tried to dash away, but all the debris cluttering his tank made it hard to dodge. Virgil pressed himself against the glass on the other side of the room, trying to see what was happening as Logan was shoved into a plastic bag like a common goldfish.

Remy began to explain the various methods of fish care, Harley barely paying attention as she held the bag with Logan inside. Patton was frantically swimming back and forth, trying to get the human’s attention.

 _“I said, LET. HIM. GO_.” Roman rammed himself even harder into the glass wall, but it was no use. The mermen were helpless to do anything but observe from a distance as Logan was the first to go.

Roman twitched nervously, rubbing at his sore shoulder. Patton began to cry, still pressed against the corner and staring at the door. There was a soft thump, and Roman looked over to see Virgil was hitting against his roof as if trying to jump out again. It was no use. There was nothing the brothers could do to bring Logan back.

…but much to everyone’s surprise, Logan wasn’t gone long. The next day Harley returned, her eyes seething.

“What the hell!” She screeched, all but slamming the plastic bag with Logan inside down on the counter. Roman let out a growl, wanting to claw the woman’s face off for mishandling his brother.

“…Can I help you?” Remy took a sip from his Starbucks.

“This one is defective!” Harley pushed the bag towards Remy. “It completely destroyed the beautiful tank I set up, and it kept splashing water everywhere. It even destroyed my phone!” Harley pulled out a very waterlogged cell phone from her back pocket, a limp heart charm attached by a wet thread.

“Oh, no.” Remy looked unimpressed, taking another slow sip. “If only someone had warned you that he’s trouble.”

“I will not be disrespected like this!” Harley started to sob, looking overwhelmed. “You need to do something about this.”

“Gurl, I just work here.” Remy sighed. “All I can do is take him back. You want another one or something?”

Roman tensed, sharing an anxious glance with Patton and Virgil.

“No I do not want another one.” Harley sneered, causing the mermen to sigh in relief. “I want to reimbursed for my emotional trauma.”

“Oh my god.” Remy rolled his eyes far back into his head. He pulled a piece of paper out from under the counter, handing it over. “Look, I will give you this $10 voucher if you just shut up and leave. Right now.”

Harley narrowed her gaze, staring at him for a moment. “…fine.” She snatched up the paper, storming out of the building.

“Geez.” Remy grabbed up the plastic bag, bringing it over to the merman section. He opened it up, and Roman watched Logan dive into the water quickly as if afraid Remy would change his mind.

“What? No thank you?” Remy smirked. A jet of water to the face was his only answer. Remy cursed slightly, rubbing the saltwater out of his eyes as he returned to the desk.

Patton looked ecstatic to have Logan back, swimming around in little tight circles.

“ _Are you hurt?_ ” Roman pressed himself up against the glass, checking Logan for injuries. Logan caught him staring and did a slow turn for Roman’s benefit. The dark blue merman looked uninjured, although he did seem exhausted.

“ _…I’m glad you’re okay_.” Roman sighed, giving Logan a smile despite the fact that Logan couldn’t hear him. Logan gave him a small smile back. Of course, both of them couldn’t ignore the reality of what had happened. Logan had been bought. Sure, he came back, but it was only a matter of time before it happened again.

Roman looked around at his brothers uneasily, wondering which one of them would be next.


	3. Mer!Logan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ah yes, the dark blue one. He was actually returned twice for ruining his former owner’s electronics, seemingly on purpose, by thrashing water onto them. Will you be keeping him? Our return window is small and he can be a pest...

Patton was the next to go.

 

Logan did everything he could, rattling his cage about and tossing debris to try and cause a ruckus. Of course, at the end of the day, there was nothing Logan really _ could  _ do. He had to watch as Patton was scooped up into that abominable plastic bag, thrashing and screaming all the way. Logan winced in sympathy, remembering how disorienting the travel had been when he himself was taken.

 

Patton still seemed to think he could communicate with the humans. Logan had a different hypothesis: the humans were simply unwilling to listen. They were deaf to his little brother’s pleas as the light blue young mer pounded on the plastic interior. 

 

“He’s not usually like this.” Remy, their human captor, explained to the one trying to take Logan’s brother away. “I’m sure he’ll calm down in a day or two.”

 

_ "No, just put him back, you incompetent bipedal!" _ Logan shouted angrily through the glass. Despite the fact the humans couldn’t understand him, Logan found this activity quite therapeutic. It was difficult enough for Logan to escape humans the first time; Logan could only hope that Patton would be smart enough to do the same. 

 

As Logan continued to scream at the man carrying Patton out the door, a human face suddenly blocked his view. Logan swam back slightly, for a moment overwhelmed.

 

“Aww, look at you.” The man grinned. “Magenta will just love you.”

 

_ "...oh, not again." _ Logan groaned, realizing what had happened. He gave Remy a good bit of trouble, but soon Logan found himself in a plastic bag as well. He looked out at his brothers. Roman seemed almost offended that he kept being overlooked, but Logan would consider that a privilege. 

 

Logan didn’t even try to watch where the human was taking him. It was too disorienting watching the world whirl by behind plastic walls. After all, it didn’t matter anyways. Logan couldn’t survive on land. The only way he’d return is if a human brought him back.

 

“EEEE!” A new human’s shriek made Logan wince, his stomach jolting as the bag was shaken back and forth. “You really got me a mermaid, Peter?” 

 

_ "Merman." _ Logan corrected, rolling his eyes as the humans showed their mutual affection by pressing their lips together.

 

“Anything for you, babe.” The human, Peter, moved Logan into a tank that had been set up, pouring Logan in with the stale water. Immediately Logan shivered, noticing the temperature was freezing. As Logan attempted to take in water through his gills, he noticed that the salt content was nowhere near adequate for his species. 

 

“Oh, look it, it’s like he’s nervous.” Magenta’s face appeared distorted through the glass, smiling down at Logan. A device was held in front of her, and Logan winced when a bright flash of light temporarily blinded him.

 

_ "I am going to die at the hand of imbeciles."  _ Logan muttered, swimming back and forth to try and at least generate some heat. Logan would have to break out of here soon, or else the lack of saltwater would be his demise. Already the merman felt his systems weakening, affected by the low saline levels.

 

Logan began to dig up the artificial gravel adorning the bottom of his cage, shoving it all to the side. Everything about this enclosure was fake. It was as if the humans knew nothing of basic oceanographic ecosystems. 

 

“Wait, what’s it doing?” Logan ignored the humans’ curious stares, continuing to dismantle the plastic decorations. The fabricated kelp was uprooted and the tiny castle painted an abhorrent shade of purple was pushed over.

 

“Babe, he’s ruining it!” Magenta whined as Logan began to toss some of the gravel up and out of the tank, glaring at her as he did so. She put her phone down next to the tank, using both hands to shovel the gravel back inside. Her hands plunged into the water, rearranging the scene. 

 

Logan dodged her arms, swimming around to glance at the phone on the table.  _ Perfect.  _ He smirked, pressing himself against the back wall to get the maximum amount of force. With a sudden burst of energy, Logan dashed across the length of the cage and flipped around, using his tail to whip the wave created by his movements over the tank wall.

 

“BABE!” Magenta’s screech was deafening as the wave soaked the device, causing it to sputter and die with a slight spark. Logan chittered irritably, fingers rubbing at his ears so they didn’t ring so much, but he was pleased that his task was so successful. 

 

This human’s temper tantrum was even greater than the first human who had purchased Logan. She just kept screaming and screaming at her companion. It was hard for Logan to understand everything that was going on above his head, but soon Logan was being scooped back into the plastic bag. One whirlwind of a trip later and Logan was once again set before Remy.

 

“Wow, that was fast.” The clerk commented, lowering his sunglasses to peer over the edges at the merman. 

 

“I...need a refund.” Peter muttered, hands shoved into his pockets. “And a goldfish instead.”

 

“Goldfish it is.” Remy picked up the plastic bag with Logan inside, frowning slightly at how cold it felt. He returned Logan to his usual cage. Logan aimed a splash of water at Remy more out of habit as he entered the tank, but this time Remy knew to dodge. 

 

“Fool me once, gurl.” Remy clicked his tongue, wagging his finger at Logan’s tank for a moment before going to assist Peter. 

 

Logan gave a sigh of relief, letting the blessed saltwater fill his gills. Though this container was just as artificial, at least it was a survivable prison. The merman sighed, realizing how low his standards had sunk. He missed the ocean.

 

The dark blue merman swam in a few leisurely laps around his tank, hating how often he was forced to turn in order to avoid running into a glass wall. Out in the great sea Logan could just pick a direction and swim for the rest of his life. After all, the water was so vast and his figure was so small. Logan had never found the ocean’s vastness daunting; rather, Logan was constantly driven forwards by the challenge of discovering all its many secrets.

 

Logan stopped his laps, glancing across the aisle at Virgil. The youngest was still hiding amongst his fake rocks. Logan sighed. There was still so much Logan had hoped to show Virgil of the world, and now it was appearing as though he would never be granted that chance. 

 

The merman’s eyes glanced briefly over to Patton’s enclosure, but it was still empty. This was not necessarily a reason to worry, but Logan felt his tail twitch anxiously anyways. Patton had often been non-confrontational. Logan worried that Patton wouldn’t be able to annoy even a human if his life depended on it. Patton had always been more bubbly and carefree than the others. Did Patton even judge the severity of the situation? Only then did Logan remember Patton’s screams, and Logan winced in guilt for doubting his brother however fleetingly. Patton was certainly just as frightened as Logan at the prospect of the pod being separated.

 

Roman was harder to read. Though Roman fought often to escape, his efforts were less calculated. Logan feared that Roman would just wear himself out and end up trapped as though he were nothing more than a display for humans to admire. Logan shuddered at the thought. For once, Roman’s exuberant colors and fins would work against him. Though Logan always considered them flashy, he knew Roman was very proud of his scales. It would surely break his brother for his pride and joy to be his downfall.


	4. Mer!Virgil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pity, there’s only one left, he looks so miserable. Are you sure you want this one? His colors are so dark and dull, and all he ever does is hide within his little stone cove these days.  
> I don’t think he’s eating either, what a shame...

Virgil knew this was all his fault. He thought about it everyday as he watched his brothers leave. Patton still wasn’t back yet, and it made Virgil swim anxious laps over and over and over and-

_“It’s alright, Virgil.” Patton’s patient smile warmed Virgil’s heart. Logan and Roman had gone on ahead, but Patton stayed behind to wait for him. His brother grabbed his hand, pulling him along._

(Virgil winced at the memory, begging his mind not to play it any further, but he wasn’t in control of his own thoughts.)

_“Do you hear that?” Virgil frowned, looking around._

_“Hear what, kiddo?” Patton asked, but a moment later the elder mer heard it too. The roar of a boat engine, coming too close for comfort towards their reef. Patton’s eyes widened, tugging Virgil towards one of the rock outcroppings to hide. But Virgil was limited by his bad fin, unable to seek shelter in time. He was spotted by the humans, the sight of his tail disappearing behind the coral eliciting a loud cry from above._

(Not for the first time Virgil cursed his rotten tail, sinking to the bottom of the tank and gazing sourly at its misshapen fin as the memory continued to play.)

_“Look out!” Virgil yelled, pushing Patton to the side as a hand descended between them where Patton was just moments ago. Patton tried to come back to Virgil, but Virgil waved him away. “Get out of here!”_

_“I’m not leaving you, Virgil!” Patton insisted, but as the poison around them intensified it made Patton slow. The hand descended a second time, grabbing Patton who let out a scream._

_“PATTON!” A cry from behind made Virgil whip his head around. A familiar red blur began to float into sight, and Virgil squinted to make out his second oldest brother._

_“Roman?” Virgil said in realization. Before he could even try to get over there, a hand grabbed Roman too. “NO!”_

(Virgil looked longingly over at the cage that had been his older brother’s home. A few days after Patton left, a slimy-looking man came into the shop and began preening over Roman’s scales. Virgil shook with anger at the memory, remembering how the evil human had  _laughed_  at the way Roman tried to defend himself as he was scooped into one of those horrible bags.)

_Virgil swam too and fro in the intoxicated waters, yelping as the huge fingers almost caressed his scales._

_“Virgil?” Though his head was feeling fuzzy by now, Virgil could have sworn he heard a voice… “VIRGIL!”_

_“No!” Virgil’s first instinct was to panic as he felt a grip circle around his waist, but in his poisoned state he could do little more than limply wiggle._

_“It’s alright, Virgil.” Virgil stopped struggling as he recognized Logan’s voice. Peering up, Virgil realized in a daze that Logan had picked him up and was doing his best to swim the both of them to safety._

_Virgil wanted to feel safe in his brother’s arms. Logan was the oldest, the wisest, the strongest. If anyone could get them out of here it was him. But…with a growing sense of dread, Virgil noticed how shallow Logan was breathing. The toxins were making this an impossible task, and Logan’s tail strokes began to slow down._

_“I’m scared, Lo.” Virgil admitted in a moment of weakness. Logan paused, looking down at his brother as if he wanted to offer some words of comfort. That hesitation was their downfall. The human hands reached into the shallows and gripped them tightly, yanking them out of the water._

_Virgil clung tightly to his brother, not wanting to get separated. He was wrapping his arms tightly around his brother’s neck. It was no use. In his exhausted state his grip easily gave as the human pried his brother away, Virgil only able to grasp weakly at the empty air as his vision began to fade…_

———————————

Back in the present, Virgil wrapped his arms around his own chest, trying to remember how it felt when Logan had held him then. It had been so long since he was able to touch any of his brothers. Though Logan was still across the aisle, he might as well be as far away as the ones who were sold.

Virgil cursed himself for even thinking that. Even if he couldn’t touch or hear Logan, just seeing his brother was comforting. It reminded him that he wasn’t alone.

Was that really such a good thing, though? Virgil twitched his tail lightly, looking down at it again. He was the reason they were all in this mess. He and his stupid fin. Why did he have to be born a burden to this world? His brothers didn’t deserve to be confined to this hell just because nature wanted him to suffer.

Virgil almost didn’t notice the feeling of the human’s footsteps, so used to them by now as the giant beings walked to and fro in the shop beyond his glass prison. He looked up to see a pair of human eyes gazing down on him. He scowled, and Virgil was pleased to see the human take a cautious step back.

“Elliot, my man.” Remy came up from behind, slapping the human on the back. “What can I do for ya? Are you here to take one of these lil’ guys home?”

“Uh, well, not exactly.” Elliot stood in the center of the aisle, gaze shifting back and forth between Logan and Virgil.

The mers looked at each other, sharing their own uneasy glance. Logan had been taken a few times before and still looked a little green under the gills from his encounters. Of course…Virgil trembled at the very _idea_ of leaving his own  tank just to go to a new frightening prison. One where his brothers would have no chance of finding him; at least here there was still a chance that they would return, even though Virgil found it difficult to keep hope with every day Patton and Roman were still missing.

“…do you want one or not?” Remy asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Y-yeah, um, I’ll take…” Elliot looked at Virgil one last time before ultimately shifting his gaze over to Logan. “This one.”

Virgil couldn’t watch. Not again. He turned his head to the side, hearing the now familiar splashing (as well as an “ow!” from Remy) that meant another one of his brothers was leaving him.

“See you later!” Remy said with a cheeky grin as the doorbell tinged. He and Virgil both expected Logan to be back within a day or two. Didn’t mean Virgil had to like it, though. He found that his anxiety began to grow overwhelming as the days stretched out.

Whenever Virgil happened to glance outside the glass walls and see the empty enclosures he  was thrown into another episode of worry, but closing his eyes was so much worse. His mind would replay those last moments in the ocean, his worried brothers reaching out for him over and over….

A week passed, and Virgil took to lying under the safety of his plastic rock so that he could stare at the ceiling of it. His tail had never been vibrantly colored like his brothers, but the longer he was alone the more the purple began to dull into almost a dark grey. Vaguely Virgil wondered if he was dying. Can you die from loneliness? From worry? From guilt?

“Dinner time.” Remy shook some fish flakes into the top of the tank, but Virgil didn’t even glance in his direction. He wasn’t particularly hungry. “C’mon buddy, you gotta eat something. You’re gonna starve yourself.”

“ _Good_.” Virgil muttered bitterly. He heard a shifting, and didn’t bother to turn his head to the side to meet the human’s gaze.

“Helloooo?” Remy called out. “Wanna come out lil’ guy? Get some tasty flakes?”

“ _No_.” Virgil rolled over, putting his back to the human defiantly. He wasn’t scared of Remy. After all, there was nothing Remy could do that would hurt him more than this pain in his chest already did.

“. _..He should be back by now_.” Virgil said, knowing that the human couldn’t understand him. It gave him an illusion of comfort to speak the words aloud, as if it would do anything. Virgil glanced over his shoulder towards Logan’s empty tank. Remy followed his gaze.

“I don’t think he’s coming back, gurl.” Remy spoke softly.

Virgil gritted his teeth, turning away from the human again. “ _What do you know?_ ” Virgil retorted angrily, but the sinking feeling in his chest wouldn’t leave. A growing part of him knew Remy was right; though he tried to deny it, Logan wasn’t coming back. Roman wasn’t coming back. Patton wasn’t coming back. Virgil curled in on himself, feeling his tears forming.

Virgil was truly alone.


	5. Patton's New Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When he was purchased, he made such a fuss! First swimming out of the way when the clerk tried to fish him out with the handheld net, then thrashing about so much when he was netted. Once he was in his plastic travel bag, he kept pounding against the interior and making this high-pitched shrieking sound. It was almost as if he wanted to stay, the silly little thing. He kept looking back at the other tiny mermen and crying out like that! I hope he’s calmed down some in his new home…

“Welcome to your new home!” The human had announced, pouring Patton into an unfamiliar tank.

 _Home_. Patton was familiar with the word, but as he gazed around at his surroundings he knew this was not it. Home meant beautiful sea glass windows and kelp-based furniture and outcroppings of coral arranged in varying pinks. Home meant the ocean; home meant his _family._

Of course, it was nearly impossible to communicate this to the human. Their language was harsh on the merman’s vocal cords, and speaking above the water often proved painful. It was a long time before Patton figured out the correct ways to move his mouth so that his words could be heard in the air.

The first attempt at this came as quite a shock to poor Thomas. He had been sat there, minding his own business while he pondered names for the merman aloud, when a garbled noise sounded from the tank. Thomas looked over, seeing the tiny person had propped their arms up on the edge of the tank and seemed to be pointing to itself.

Thomas’ eyes widened. “You…you can _talk_?”

It’s little eyes seemed to light up, chittering excitedly and gesturing with its arms so widely that it lost its grip and fell back in the water. Thomas leaned forwards to see if it was okay, only to watch it pop back out of the water a moment later.

“I’m sorry, I…can’t understand you.” Thomas admitted. The merman frowned for a moment, pointing to himself again and making the same slow garbled noise from before. When Thomas strained his ears, it almost sounded like actual words.

“…Dad?” Thomas frowned, now completely confused. Did he truly just hear a merman say ‘dad’?

Patton shook his head and  tried to reiterate his point. “ _Pat_.” He repeated, forcing his tongue to move in unfamiliar patterns. It felt so strange to open his mouth above water.

“Pat.” Thomas repeated, and the mer nodded frantically. “That’s your name?” Another nod. “Oh! It’s nice to meet you, Pat!”

From there, things got a lot easier for Patton and he actually found he was beginning to like the human. Thomas had many questions, but it was impossible for Patton to speak more than a few words at a time. Even just giving his name had forced him to rest a couple days before he had the energy to do it again. Every attempt at using a human tongue left  a strange bitter taste in his mouth, and Patton’s lungs almost constantly felt on fire.

Thomas seemed pleased with his attempts though. He didn’t pressure Patton, and now would take into account Patton’s opinions on many things. With a shake of his head Pat could chose what was in his tank. Thomas let him play with many human artifacts. Patton would bend them to and fro, watching their movements. What’s this do? What’s it for? He always had so many questions, and occasionally he even got answers when Thomas noticed his curiosity. It was wonderful to learn about these new trinkets.

…Logan would have loved this.

Thomas wasn’t blind to Pat’s fluctuating behavior. Whenever he was around it  _seemed_  as though the mer was all smiley and bubbly and ready for games. Pat would often gift him shiny pebbles from the bottom of the tank, a sure sign that the mer was grateful for his presence and was trying to thank him. Still…whenever Pat didn’t think he was looking, Thomas noticed how glum the merman looked. He would sulk in the corner, gazing at the ground for a very long time. Was Thomas doing something wrong?

To test Pat’s strange mood swings, Thomas tried putting on Pat’s favorite song. The second Baby Shark started playing Pat gave a happy twirl, beginning to dance around the tank. Thomas smiled slightly, then left the room but kept the song playing. He peeked his head around the corner, only to see that his fears were confirmed. As soon as he was out of the room Pat had stopped dancing.

Thomas sighed, stepping back into the room. Pat frantically tried to restart his movements, but Thomas reached over and turned the speaker off.

“What’s wrong, Pat?” Thomas asked.

Patton sat in silence for a long while, not meeting Thomas’ gaze. This was it, his chance to express what he had been feeling this entire time. Sure Thomas wasn’t so bad, sometimes Patton even enjoyed being here. But…he missed his brothers terribly. Patton could never truly be happy here.

He surfaced slowly, knowing Thomas was watching him. It wasn’t often that Patton came to the surface to talk. Usually their communication was only through head nods now.

“Home.” The tiny spoke in broken english. “Go home.”

Thomas frowned. “We are home.”

Pat shook his head, frustrated tears in his eyes. “Go home.” He repeated.

It was too many words that needed to be said. Patton rubbed at his eyes, sniffling slightly. No matter how many times he repeated the phrase, Thomas didn’t seem to get it. Patton kept saying it over and over, rendering his voice sore and useless for a day. Why wouldn’t Thomas just take him home? Patton wanted nothing more than to curl up in his familiar algae bed with his brothers by his side.

When Patton finally got his strength back, he forced himself to be brave. Roman wouldn’t quit; neither could he. He needed to get back to his brothers. Thomas was his only chance. Patton looked over at the human, sat in front of the couch watching cartoons. Patton loved cartoons. Was Thomas watching them in here just so Pat could watch, too? He smiled at the thought, plucking a turquoise shiny rock out of the tank to show his appreciation.

At the sound of the gravel hitting the table, Thomas turned around. He gave Patton a small smile. “Hey buddy, are you feeling better?”

Patton nodded, swimming up to the top. Thomas’ eyes widened.

“Oh, you don’t have to talk.” Thomas assured him, coming over to the table. “I don’t want you to get hurt again.”

It had been a scary experience for Thomas, watching the merman suffer after he wore himself out. Though Thomas loved to talk to Pat, it always seemed to hurt the little guy.

Patton gave him a grateful smile, but this was something he had to do. Not just for himself, but his brothers as well.

“…alone.” Patton chose his words carefully, his voice quiet as he was still in recovery. Patton looked sadly around the tank. “Bad.”

“Alone bad.” Thomas tried to piece together what Pat meant. He looked down at him with sympathy. “Oh, Pat, are you lonely?”

Patton nodded, having never heard the human equivalent of the word before. “ _Lonely_.” The mer spoke softly in his native tongue, feeling the tears start to form again. He rested his chin on his arms, crossed over the edge of the tank. “ _I miss them._ ” 


	6. Roman's New 'Home'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In his new home, he’s alone in a bowl that’s too small, and never gets any sunlight...his new owner is annoyed by the racket his escape attempts cause, so they’ve placed a book over the bowl and left him in a linen closet for now...

Roman had always been a fighter. A defender, a champion. He never backed down for a challenge even when Logan begged him to quit. This was certainly no exception. The human may have him contained, but Roman refused to believe it would stay this way. Constantly he was scheming new ways to escape his new enclosure, often ramming into the glass to test its durability. His shoulders were constantly bruised from the many times he had pressed his body against the hard surface.

This new tank was far too small for a mer such as himself. The bowl’s rounded edges made his vision of the outside world warped, causing Roman to feel disoriented wherever he looked. Roman often found himself bumping into the walls, making the mer feel even more claustrophobic and increasing the strength of his attempts.

“Stop that.” There was movement outside the glass as giant hands reached out and grabbed the bowl on either side, giving the tank a quick shake. The waves this motion caused threw Roman to the bottom. Roman groaned, feeling a few of the pebbles that had been dislodged settle onto his back.

Satisfied with Roman’s lack of movement, Deceit removed his hands. Roman glared at the blurry figure, slowly making out the details as the water settled once more. Deceit, his new ‘owner’, was a particularly vile breed of human. Clearly he took pleasure in Roman’s existence like Roman was nothing but a treasured pearl to add to his collection.

Roman huffed, glaring down at his tail. It had only been a matter of time before his beautiful scales got him in trouble, but Roman had always assumed that trouble would have more to do with a courting scandal. No, instead he was being put on display as a Giant’s trinket.

Deceit was less than pleased with Roman’s escape attempts the past few days. According to him, mers were supposed to be stationary and quiet, neither of which described Roman.

Deceit now would often withhold food, forcing Roman to grow weak and complaint from a lack of energy.  Still Roman fought on, refusing to cooperate with his captor. Often Roman splashed, writhed, and once even went so far as to try and bite the hand that fed him. That had been a mistake.

“You are going to behave.” Deceit sneered now, covering the tank back up with a large book so as to prevent Roman from jumping out. “And be quiet.”

Roman would do no such thing.  _“I will not listen to the likes of you, land shark!”_ He screeched, shooting up in the water to be eye level with the human and bare his teeth.

“Do not test my patience.” Deceit warned, turning back to his work.

 _“I will test your patience as much as I wish_.” Roman increased his volume, being as obnoxious as possible. He began pushing up on the book, trying to ram the ceiling off instead of break the walls. “ _I do not negotiate with villains.”_

Roman knew the human could not understand him, but he was pleased to see the human’s muscles tensing in irritation.

 _“You cannot keep me contained!_ ” Roman, realizing he would not be able to budge the book, instead took to grabbing pebbles off the bottom and banging them against the glass. The sound echoed through his own skull, but he was willing to make that sacrifice to even slightly inconvenience the human.

 _“I will get out of here._ ” Roman continued his speech, now trying to encourage himself. “ _Good will triumph. My brothers will see freedom due to my bravery. You wretched creatures cannot keep us apart forever._ ”

Deceit turned to him, giving the mer a warning glare. Thanks to sheer willpower Roman refused to be intimidated.

“ _You’re a giant bunch of brutes who have no business being so cruel!_ ” Roman now took to insulting humanity as a whole, finding it helped him let off steam slightly. “ _It’s no wonder the Ocean rejected you, we’d never want your kind anyway. What with your freakish legs. And your lungs are too fragile. ‘Oh, look at me, I’m a human. I can’t breathe water.’ Grow some gills, moron._ ”

“SHUT. UP!” Deceit’s roar was deafening, his fists slamming the table so hard that it shook Roman’s enclosure. it caused Roman to finally pause, the pebbles in his arms slowly floating down as the human’s rage turned exclusively on him.

“Clearly you didn’t learn your lesson the first time.” Deceit gathered up both the tank and the book atop it, not being careful as the contents sloshed around. Roman pressed himself against the wall to try and keep steady, eyes wide.

“ _H-hey! Wait! Can’t we talk about this?_ ” Roman’s eyes widened, trying to process the blurry world around him to see if his fears were correct. “ _No, please. Not the dark again._ ”

Roman hated the dark. He was a surface mer, meaning that part of his energy came from basking in the sun’s radiant beams. Roman used to love splashing through the shallows, twirling about so the light danced across his radiant scales. It was there he felt most at home.

What beautiful memories Roman had, back in the coral reefs he tended with his brothers. Such a stark contrast to his new situation. The lack of natural light inside human buildings was already taking a toll on Roman. His scales had been fading from their vibrant hues to a more dim burgundy. But in the closet, when he had no light at  _all_ … Roman shuddered, a hand gently rubbing across his tail. A few scales molted away at his touch, a side effect of the last time Deceit had locked him away. It seemed Deceit was unconcerned about the effects such treatment took on Roman’s beauty, taking precedence over the fact he wanted Roman out of his sight when the mer misbehaved.

“There.” Deceit set the bowl down on a dim shelf in the linen closet. The only light came from behind Deceit in the room adjacent, casting the human’s face in shadow. “Make all the racket you want, nothing’s going to change.”

“ _Please_.” Roman begged, quickly changing his tune. “ _I’ll be quiet, I promise!_ ” How long would he be left in the darkness this time? Would Deceit remember to feed him? Would he even see the light again?

The door closed, leaving Roman alone with his questions.


	7. Logan's Sixth Human

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Does he ever...fiddle? I got mine from a friend as a birthday present and all he ever does is make a mess. He rips the plants out and digs up the sand and arranges the rocks in weird patterns all the time. I had to take out all the pointy things because I was scared that he’d end up hurting himself..."

“Eat up, little guy.” Elliot encouraged as he sprinkled a few flakes of generic fish food into the bowl. “Today’s the big day.”

Logan glared up at the flakes, watching them all collect in a soggy pile as they floated lazily about the surface. He could hardly stomach the artificial nutrience pellets, let alone this textureless attempt at sustenance. It almost made him miss the pet store food. Of course, the thought of his brothers made him miss the pet store even more. But would they even be there if Logan returned? Roman and Patton had already been sold. Surely Virgil was soon to follow.

Not to mention, with every passing day Logan found his chances of getting back growing slimmer and slimmer. Though he thrashed about and made a mess just like his previous abodes, this human didn’t seem to mind. He would clean up any messes that Logan managed to make and had quickly learned to keep anything of value far away from Logan’s enclosure. Elliot also learned to keep the tank covered, after finding out about Logan’s penchant for removing every single pebble from the bottom of the tank and chucking them out. (That had been quite a surprise for Elliot to wake up to the second morning, the purple and blue pebbles scattered all over his carpet.)

After close examination of his captor, it was clear to Logan why this human was willing to put up with such behavior. Elliot did not intend on keeping Logan; rather, Logan was meant to be a gift to another human. Certainly that was what Elliot meant when he indicated that today was special. Despite himself, Logan actually was relieved to hear he would be transfering humans. It might bring him further from his connection to the pet store, but at least Logan had a better shot of escaping a human less patient than Elliot.

Later that evening, Logan’s assumptions were confirmed. His entire tank was placed into a cardboard box, hiding the mer’s view of the world as the water sloshed about due to human movements. The rest was a blur- jostling, the familiar hum of a car engine, a strange scratching sound- and then Logan found himself looking up at a new human. This one had spectacles perched upon his nose, and looked far more professional than Logan’s last owner.

“Oh, Elliot!” Picani stared down the bridge of his nose, quite surprised to see the sight before him. “I…I must admit, of all the birthday gifts I have received from past patients, this is certainly the most…unique.”

“Well I wanted it to be something special.” Elliot explained. “You’ve helped me so much, and I know you really like that fish movie…”

“Ah, yes, Finding Nemo.” Dr. Picani was quick to paste on a smile, not wanting to seem ungrateful. “A  _Fin_ -tastic tale, if I do say so myself.” Elliot gave a mix between a groan and a chuckle.

Picani looked down at the mer in the bowl, who seemed to be acting disinterested as it sat in the corner with its arms crossed. However, Picani noticed that it kept sending him sideways glances. Picani had to admit he was insatiably curious. What was this strange creature? Where did it come from?

“Here’s the rest of the mer stuff.” Elliot explained, handing over another box. “This is his food, but…he hasn’t eaten much of it.”  Instantly Picani grew concerned, and Elliot was quick to continue. “But! If anyone can help him get better, I’m sure you can!”

“I’m a therapist, not a doctor.” Dr. Picani reminded him. “But this certainly could be due to some sort of behavioral trait rather than a physical illness. Don’t worry, I will be sure to care for him to the best of my ability!”

Despite what he said, Picani wasn’t so sure as he waved goodbye to Elliot. He knew nothing about this sort of creature. What could a tiny mer person be upset about? A change in environment? A lack of companionship?

Logan steadied himself, his environment shifting as the human set the bowl upon the coffee table.

“What are you thinking?” Picani murmured, trying to understand what he was dealing with. “Are you okay, little guy?”

“ _Hardly_.” Logan glared at him. “ _This situation is far from ideal._ ” Logan swam up to the top of the tank, flipping his tail up to splash water in Picani’s face.

“Oh!” Picani quickly sat back, dodging the majority of the attack. He wiped at his glasses, a few droplets of water having hit the lenses. “Oh, no, don’t do that.”

“ _Why do all you humans think I would adhere to such basic commands?_ ” Logan rolled his eyes. The mer set to work, wanting to make up for lost time. Spotting a set of books near his bowl, Logan changed targets and splashed at those. With a cry Picani dove to protect his texts. Now distracted, Picani was vulnerable to Logan’s flying projectiles.

“Ow!” Picani winced, feeling a tiny yet sharp pebble hit him in the side of his forehead. He quickly grabbed up the books, leaning back to escape the line of fire.

Picani frowned, watching the mer swirl about the water in the bowl as it quickly began to rip up the foliage and decorations. Picani reached in to quickly remove any sharp objects from the container, not wanting the mer to hurt himself, but had to remove his hand when it tried to directly attack him.

“…why are you so hostile?” Picani asked quietly. This certainly didn’t seem like a predatory species of fish, yet it seemed to hold quite a vendetta against humans. The mer answered in that same strange series of clicks:

“ _Because you are ripping apart everything I love_.”

Picani stared at the creature, eyes slowly widening in realization. Did…did the tiny mer understand him? Was it attempting to communicate? It certainly reminded Picani of the way his cats sometimes talked back to him in their own cat language.

“Meow?”

“Stitch!” Picani turned around, smiling at one of his three felines. What perfect timing. “How ya doing, lil guy?”

The sounds in the tank came to an instant standstill. Logan stood frozen, staring back at the predator that had just appeared in the doorway. The blue eyed feline tilted its head, the two creatures caught in a staring match.

Picani’s smile faded, realizing that this could quickly turn into a problem. “Okay, c’mere~” Picani picked Stitch up, earning a meowl of protest as he stopped the cat from prowling forwards. Picani stepped closer to the bowl, holding Stitch aloft and facing the tank. The mer immediately swam away, pressing his back against the curved glass wall.

“ _Keep that monster away from me!_ ” Logan’s voice shook slightly, intimidated by the hungry gaze of the giant furry beast that was being brought closer.

“It’s okay, we’re all a family here.” Picani explained, looking back and forth between them. He crouched down, putting the two at eye level. “Stitch, fish are friends, not food.” The creature hissed, showing off its fangs. This close, Logan could also make out its razor claws, pawing in his direction as if eager to get a piece of him.

Though Logan might be able to understand Picani, it was clear this cat did not possess the same level of consciousness. All at once Stitch made an unprompted motion, attempting to leap from Picani’s arms and into the bowl. Logan let out a small scream, watching a single claw dip into the water and create ripples throughout the surface.

“NO!” Picani scrambled to readjust his grip, pulling Stitch close to his chest and firmly preventing any other attempts to harm the blue mer. Picani panted, startled by the slight scare. Perhaps things would be more difficult than he thought.


	8. Alone at the Pet Store

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At least he stopped leaping out onto the countertops once the others were all sold off. Silly thing almost suffocated...

Remy gave a yawn, tiredly running a hand through his hair before fumbling to get the store key out of his bag. With his sleepy state it took a couple tries before the key fit into the lock, and a couple more before the key actually turned. The bell tingled as he pushed the door open, alerting the various creatures to his presence. A cacophony of animal calls greeted him, all eager to share their story and get their food.

“Yeah yeah, I’m coming.” Remy waved them off, heading to the back to throw his apron on. He finished off his starbucks drink, refilling the travel mug with the break room coffee. Remy grimaced at the taste, noting that his boss must have used up all the good coffee the day before that Remy usually kept stocked. Guess his boss would have to die for that.

“Alright, who’s hungry?” Remy asked, coming back into the main floor. The answer was, of course, everyone. Remy began with the selection of puppies, hoisting a large bag of dog food with a grunt and pouring it sloppily into bowls which the pups consumed eagerly. Next was the cats, meowing incessantly until their bowls were filled too.

Remy continued his rounds, making sure every creature’s food and water levels were correct. As he went Remy also did his necessary maintenance duties, cleaning everything from parrot cages to frog habitats to keep up sanitation.

“Excuse me.” A man wearing a tweed jacket with pink hair called for Remy’s attention. Remy finished his work, setting aside the shovel he was using to scoop up hamster fluff.

“What’s up, doc?” Remy asked, pushing his hands on his thighs and standing up.

“Ah, clever bugs bunny reference.” Picani’s eyes glinted happily behind his glasses. “Excellent. My name is Emile Picani, and I was just wondering if this establishment carried any supplies for housing…tiny…er, merpeople?” Picani gestured with his hands as though unsure of the terminology.

“Oh yeah, I know mers.” Remy snorted, grabbing his coffee. “We used to have four of them here, I was in charge so I know all about them. Aisle four is what you want. This way.”

Remy led Picani down the aisles, heading back to the aquarium section. On the way to the supplies Remy paused to look in on the only tiny mer left.

“Morning, sleeping beauty.” Remy greeted, smiling over his third morning cup of java. The mer ignored him, choosing to continue to sulk under its rock. Remy frowned. Most of the food from the day before continued to float at the top, uneaten.

Remy scooped this up, sprinkling a new layer of fish flakes on top. As usual these went ignored. Remy sighed, gesturing for the customer to follow him further.

“Is that how they are meant to behave?” Picani asked the employee with the name tag ‘Remy’ as they walked.

“No, that one has just been really depressed lately.” Remy admitted. “Anyway, here’s what you want.” Remy began pulling supplies off the shelves, everything from cleaning tools to basic sustenance. “This is the one they’ll eat. If you give them this they won’t touch the stuff. I even had one splash me in the face. Several times, actually.”

“Noted.” Picani gave a nod. “Mine has already attempted the same maneuver.”

“Oh really?” Remy gave a chuckle, leading him back to the counter to ring up his purchases. “What are the odds…”

Remy thought back to the dark blue mer, and then his thoughts moved on to the rest of the gang, remembering fondly how much trouble the whole group had been. With Red slamming into things and Teal swirling up a storm, there had always been activity in aisle 4. Now it was so…quiet.

Remy found himself actually missing them. Of course, there was still the purple one, but Remy hated just watching the tiny sulk there day after day. That mer desperately needed to get out of this pet shop. Maybe he’d come to life again with a good owner.

Remy waved goodbye to the pink haired man after the transaction was complete, heading back to check in on said mer once more. As expected, it hadn’t moved an inch. Remy sighed, taking the clipboard off the wall to check the schedule.

“Oh, looks like you’re going on sale, little guy.” Remy noted. It made sense. The mer had been in the shop for quite a while now, so store policy was to drop the price. Remy went to the back room, looking for the sale stickers. It seemed his coworkers had helpfully hidden them away in a filing cabinet behind the fridge…for some reason. Remy rolled his eyes at their incompetence, taking a sharpie and scribbling the price down.

Sticker in hand, Remy returned to the tank, surprised to find a man actually looking over the mer. The man didn’t notice Remy yet, and seemed to be talking to himself as his eyes eagerly drank up every inch of the purple tailed fish creature.

“Oh, bill’s going to love you.” His voice came out almost as a sneer, a lisp formed by a few missing front teeth.

“Who’s bill?” Remy said conversationally, taking a swig of coffee.

“My baracuda.” The man answered.

Remy’s coffee made a sudden reappearance as he spat it out in surprise. Remy wasn’t the only one who had a reaction to this response. Eyes widening, the mer for once stopped sulking, deciding instead to try and hide itself behind the stone structure. The man chuckled at this fruitless behavior.

“How much for the lil’ snack?” The potential customer asked, turning now to face Remy.

“Ah…” Remy froze, feeling the sale sticker still clutched in his grasp. He shouldn’t care about this, it was the circle of life after all. No one else wanted this mer. That’s why it was going on sale in the first place. Perhaps this was supposed to be the purple one’s fate, just to be bigger fish food. After all, it wasn’t Remy’s job to question why people wanted fish; he was just there to sell them.

“…he’s not for sale.” Remy answered, crumpling up the sale sticker in his fist.

“What? Why?” The man frowned at this. “Why the hell do you have the darn thing on display then?”

“Because someone bought him earlier in the day.” Remy explained. “They’re coming back tonight to pick him up.”

“This is outrageous.” He growled. “I refuse to be a victim to such false advertising.”

“Gurl, then leave.” Remy rolled his eyes, pointing to the door. The man looked ready to spit in his face, but with only minor grumbling he stormed out the front.

Remy looked at the purple mer, finding the creature was staring back at him. Remy clearly couldn’t let it stay here any longer. If that man came back, Remy would be in hot water for lying to a customer. Not to mention, there was always the possibility that someone with the same intentions could come in on a day when Remy wasn’t working. The thought made his stomach churn.

“Guess you’re coming home with me, buddy.” Remy said, his mind made up.


	9. Thomas Shops for a Second Mer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Is he lonely? Do I need to get him a friend? Or a bigger tank or something? Am I a bad mer mom?!” -Thomas Sanders, probably

Thomas yawned, sitting up in bed. He got up, opening the blinds before heading to his living room. There in the fish tank Pat sat, looking contemplative as he sat facing away from Thomas on one of the fake rocks. Briefly Thomas wondered if merpeople ever slept.

“Good morning, Pat.” Thomas greeted, coming over.

Patton perked up, swimming over to the top of the tank. “ _Good morning, Thomas._ ” Patton greeted in his natural mer tongue, waving his hand. It was too early in the morning for Patton to try human-speech.

Not for the first time, Thomas looked over the tank and noticed how…lifeless it appeared. He had done his best to fill the space with toys and shelter spaces, but Patton was still the only living thing within the container. But would the tank even be large enough for another mer? Would Thomas have to purchase a new one? Patton had said that he was lonely…maybe it was time to fix that.

“I’m going out for a bit.” Thomas explained, grabbing his bag off the hook. “Be back soon, okay?”

Pat chattered a response that Thomas didn’t understand. Thomas just gave him a smile and a wave, stepping out the door. He wanted to surprise Pat, after all. Besides, Thomas was still feeling a bit unsure about this decision.

Thomas stepped into the store, the bell ringing above his head.

“Welcome to  _Pets Don’t Fret_ , what can I…oh, hi.” Remy’s original monotone automatic response perked up, recognizing the customer. “I know you. Thomas, right?”

“Yup, that’s me.” Thomas confirmed, heading back towards the Aquarium. Remy followed, having nothing better to do.

“I’m glad you’re not trying to return the little guy.” Remy looked down, noting the lack of a plastic bag. “Your return window closed long ago, honey.”

“No, nothing like that.” Thomas chuckled. “Pat’s a real sweetie.”

“Pat? That’s a cute name.” Remy commented, sipping his Starbucks. “How’d you settle on ‘Pat’?”

“Oh, i didn’t name him, that’s his name.” Thomas explained.

Remy didn’t seem to follow. “What, so it just felt right or somethin’?”

“No, he told me his name.” Thomas corrected.

“Wait, what?” Remy’s eyes widened, slowly lowering his cup. “He spoke to you?”

“…yeah.” Thomas paused, turning to face him. “Do the others not talk?”

“They’ve never talked to  _me_.” Remy grumbled, looking down into his coffee. He swirled it thoughtfully. “Does he…say anything else?”

“Not much.” Thomas admitted. “I think talking doesn’t come naturally to him. He’s been trying to explain some things to me, but he doesn’t seem to know how to communicate his thoughts. I think it might even be hurting him, trying to speak to me. So I try not to push it.”

“But aren’t you curious?” Remy pressed. “I mean, what could they want?”

“I…don’t know.” Thomas rubbed his arm. “I think he’s just lonely.”

“Yeah, the last one was pretty depressed.” Remy rubbed at his chin. Although truly, that didn’t make that much sense. How could they be lonely if they were never together? After all, the mers were always kept in separate tanks.

“The last one?” Thomas repeated. He looked around, only now noticing the lack of mers on the shelves. His posture deflated slightly. “Are they all gone then?”

“Uh, yeah.” Remy leaned against one of the shelves. “I took the last one home myself last night.”

“I didn’t take you to be a fish lover.” Thomas raised an eyebrow, surprised.

“Eh, the little guy grew on me.” Remy shrugged. Well, that and…the incident. “Why? Were you hoping to get another one?”

“…maybe.” Thomas gave a shrug of his own. “I mean, it seemed like a good idea, but also two mers might be too much of a responsibility. I guess this is just a sign. One’s enough for me.”

“You can say that again.” Remy chuckled. “They were enough hassle in separate tanks. I can’t imagine putting them together.”

“Right.” Thomas grabbed a container of fish food off the shelves. “Well, in that case, I’ll just get this.”

“Ah, you mean this.” Remy corrected, grabbing the one next to it.

“…right.” Thomas rubbed his neck sheepishly, following him to the register. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” Remy said, ringing him up. “I mean, I’ve been around long enough. Kinda impossible not to pick up some tricks.”

“Any other tricks you know?” Thomas asked, pulling out his wallet.

“Yeah, keep a lid on the tank.” Remy looked at him seriously. “Or they will destroy everything you love.”

“Oh.” Thomas cleared his throat. “Um, I don’t think Pat has a problem with that. Besides, if I had a lid, I wouldn’t be able to talk to him.”

“Oh right, I forgot about that.” Remy still looked amazed by that fact. He shook his head. “Gurl, I do not know how you managed that. I am still in awe.”

“I didn’t really  _do_  anything.” Thomas said earnestly. “Pat was the one who wanted to talk. I was just the one willing to listen.” Thomas picked up his bag, putting his wallet back in his pocket. “I’ve got to get going. But I’m sure I’ll see you around, Remy.”

“…right, see ya.” Remy waved goodbye, looking lost in his own thoughts.


	10. Roman's Condition Worsens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The yellowy one hasn’t been doing so well, or so his new owner claims. Not eating, scales seem to be deteriorating...

Deceit sighed, closing his textbook with a resounding thud. At least his studying was done for the night. He could count this as a win. At least, he could until he glanced at the clock and realized it was already early morning. Deceit groaned, dropping his head back onto his book.

It was all that fish’s fault. If it didn’t keep trying to escape and hurting itself all the time, Deceit wouldn’t have been so distracted and would have finished hours ago. Fate was a cruel mistress. Why had he chosen such a difficult specimen? He could have gone the easy route and acquired a goldfish, but Deceit went above and beyond to try and establish superiority over his peers. Not only that, but Deceit had chosen what appeared to be the most abominable, ill-tempered creature to ever walk- er, swim- the face of this planet.

Speaking of which, it was just about time to fill out his daily report. Deceit groaned, getting up and retrieving the tank from the closet. At least it seemed the darkness was a good way to shut it up. The little thing was just floating near the back, idle as a piece of flotsam.

…wait, was that normal?

Deceit pulled the tank out into the light, peering into the container. It seemed once it was exposed to the light the mer gave a shiver, but otherwise maintained its eerily still posture. Frowning, Deceit recorded this behavior into his notebook.

“You’re losing scales again.” Deceit murmured, taking a metal rod and swirling the contents of the tank so that he could note how many loose scales populated the container. As he swirled, the mer seemed to drift along in the current that was created, barely flicking its tail.

“Oh  _wonderful_.” Deceit groaned. “Now you’re ill, aren’t you? Can fish even get ill? How pathetically useless. You creatures are so picky. A little bit of difference in pH levels or the wrong salt concentration and suddenly you’re done for; how on Earth do you possibly survive to repopulate your species?”

Of course, the merman didn’t answer. However, he did glare at Deceit, so at least the human knew it was still alive. If barely.

“What is wrong with you?” He crouched down, squinting at the mer. Its previously shimmering ruby and golden hues were now a dull red and pale yellow. Its human half had paled tremendously, and if this were actually a person Deceit would be sure to stay far away lest he get sneezed upon.

“Come on now, stop that moping about.” Looking around, Deceit left the room briefly to find his gloves. Of all the days for this to happen… after all, he had already shown up late to his clinical several times in the past, and sweet talking his mentor could only excuse his behavior so long.

However, perhaps this could be considered a legitimate excuse for his tardiness. An animal that was ill or injured often seemed to gain the sympathy of his peers, no matter how occasionally pathetic the subject. Honestly, Deceit often felt like the only logical mind in the room. It was better to put down a suffering animal than to prolong the pain. Of course, in this particular case, Deceit was inclined to disagree. After all, his grade depended on this little sea creature surviving ‘till the end of the semester; after that, Deceit didn’t much care what happened to it.

With a triumphant grin Deceit pulled his latex gloves from one of the kitchen drawers. He pulled them up over his wrists, allowing the elastic to rest on his wrist with a resounding  _snap_. “…ow.”

Thus equipped, Deceit returned to the bedroom, and poked a cautious finger into the water. He prodded the mer, hoping to gain some sort of reaction. The red tailed mer pushed meagerly at his finger, but seemed unable to stop Deceit’s actions. On a normal day Deceit easily overpowered the mer, obviously, but usually the merman put more effort into his attempts. Occasionally the teeth came out as well.

Speaking of… Deceit changed his grip, reaching his second hand into the water to try and hold open the mer’s jaw. The mer struggled more, pushing against his fingers and making it a bit difficult to get a good look. With a frustrated huff Deceit released the creature, pulling his hands out of the water and shaking them dry.

What was he  _doing_? Deceit didn’t know the first thing about the health of a creature like this. He had just found it in the store and assumed his instructor would be impressed with the rarity of such a catch. Now he was stuck trying to maintain the life of a fish that almost no one knew anything about.

Deceit looked down at the mer, who was now rubbing his jaw as if in pain from Deceit’s actions. The human winced. No, he was clearly out of his element. As much as he loathed asking for help, even Deceit had to admit this was one of those rare instances where it was necessary.

“Alright, how to do this…” The veterinary student muttered, glancing around for his equipment. Deceit’s professor had demonstrated a few weeks ago the proper way to transport a fish, but at the time Deceit had not deemed this to be necessary information. It’s a fish, for goodness sake- how many places does it have to go?

But apparently, his mer’s condition was worsening. Though it would be a hassle to bring the fading red creature into work, it seemed without proper veterinary care this one would surely perish. At the very least his mentor on call would have more expertise dealing with bizarre cases such as this.

“Come here.” Deceit instructed, pushing the mer along in the water into the bowl. There was little reaction, the mer still focused on its jaw. Deceit pulled the bowl out of the water, inspecting it again. The little eyes had closed, and Deceit wasn’t quite sure if it was sleeping or dying.

“If you die on the way there I’m feeding you to a cat.” Deceit growled, pouring the contents of the bowl including the fish into a plastic bag. Despite his words, Deceit found himself growing anxious about the mer’s condition, and without a moment to lose he rushed out the door hoping he wasn’t too late.


	11. Cat got your tongue?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> POTENTIALLY TRIGGERING CONTENT: INJURY, DEPRESSIVE THOUGHTS, DEATH

The situation Logan found himself in was not ideal. Unfortunately, this human seemed just as patient as his last owner. Every splash, every attack,  _all_ of it earned nothing more than the occasional slight frown. Picani would occasionally even chuckle at Logan’s actions, mentioning how his behavior was “almost cat-like” the way Logan made messes out of spite.

 _Cat_ -like. Logan recoiled from the expression. He wanted no association with the furry beasts that continuously prowled throughout the human’s home, leaving no corner safe. Already Logan’s tank had been transferred to nearly twelve separate locations, each more remote than the last as Picani’s way to try and give Logan some privacy from the cats.

However, it was no use. Doors, high shelves… _nothing_ short of a proper lock could deter the felines from their one true goal of getting their greedy little paws on him. Logan could see it in their carnivorous gaze every time the large mammals got close to his glass prison. So far Picani had come to the rescue every time they so much as swiped at the water, but the human seemed content to let the cats wander at a distance for Logan to get “acquainted” with them so long as Picani supervised.

Logan cringed. The idea of becoming acquainted with such a creature was almost laughable. Siding with a predator? That was mere foolishness. Logan did take a little joy in knowing that the Cats were not so lenient as Picani about his splashing. Logan was quick to jet a wave in their direction if one wandered too close, which would cause Picani to notice their intrusion and take the yowling beast away.

There were three of these furry abominations that Logan had to keep track of, and despite himself Logan had begun to learn their names. First was Prince Charming, a very huffy creature that seemed more content to loom over Logan whilst it strut around, asserting its dominance and displaying its well-kept fluffy coat. The second was a female named Marie, a calico cat whose interest made Logan nervous. Thankfully she was more timid than the others, and could easily be dissuaded by a splash to the face, sending her running off meowing forlornly.

The real problem was Stitch. A Russian blue with more curiosity than could possibly be healthy, Stitch was known for getting into trouble. The cat never thought of consequences before stealing Picani’s food or jumping onto electronics or pushing glasses off of counters. Stitch refused to be dissuaded once he made up his mind about what he wanted.

And Logan was positive the cat had decided  _he_ was next on the list.

“Alright pretty kitties, that’s enough playtime.” Picani stood up, looking around at the three felines who had the run of the living room. Logan could practically sigh in relief. His body always felt so tense when the cats were nearby, as he had to be on high alert at all times. Though Logan appreciated the fact Picani did not allow him to become cat chow, he was wise enough to not depend on the human for his own protection. Logan had to be able to fend for himself.

 _“Get out of here, you frolicking felines.”_  Logan waved them away, watching Picani corral them all into his bedroom. Whenever the human left the house he would lock the cats in there, giving Logan a few brief hours of piece. These were the only times Logan could actually sleep, as often Picani forgot to lock the cats up at night.

Logan shuddered in memory. He had had too many close calls in the dark. Now Logan was afraid to sleep at night at all, terrified he would miss the few warning signs that could save his life. Instead Logan confined himself to these brief naps. As such, Logan was often quite exhausted. Bags had begun to form under his eyes and Logan wondered if that was perhaps a permanent change.

The blue mer nestled down at the bottom of his tank, finding the plastic gravel as uncomfortable as always. But, given his state of exhaustion, Logan found it quite easy to fall asleep. He drifted off, thankful that he was not gifted any dreams. Lately anything his subconscious came up with was unpleasant, but with reality being what it was this was not surprising in the slightest.

_Thud. Thud. Thud._

Logan groaned, pulled from his sleep far too early by a tapping on his glass. Spotting the furry paw tapping away at his enclosure, Logan was instantly awake. He looked up at Prince, who seemed content now that Logan was awake. Logan glared at the preening cat, watching their tail curve around the edge of his enclosure as Prince Charming circled the tank to show off, now not giving him a second glance.

Logan rubbed at his eyes. It felt far too early to be awake, but Picani must have come home early.

_ScreeeEEECH!_

_“What was that?”_  Logan gasped, whirling around to see Marie experimentally scratching the glass surface. Logan pressed his hands desperately to his ears, the ringing becoming unbearable as the noise echoed all around him. With a last ditch effort Logan splashed at her with a flick of his tail. The water did not get as far as he would have liked, but at least she stopped using her claws.

Where was Picani? Why was he permitting the cats to get so close? Logan tried to get a glimpse of the human through the crowd of fur, but was quickly distracted when an intruding limb entered his tank. Logan shrieked, darting to the other side of his tank. Stitch meowed at him, swiping again and again into the water with those razor-like claws, undeterred by the fact it was getting wet. Logan dodged this way and that, only to prove too slow as he felt the blades nick into his skin. Logan let out a cry of his own, clutching at his side where a faint pool of blood had begun to form in the surrounding waters.

It seemed the cats were not satisfied with his pain. In tandem they began to push at the small tank, and Logan paled as he felt his enclosure begin to shift near the edge.

“ _No, no no no!_ ” Logan cried out, once again frantically looking around for the human, but Picani was nowhere to be seen. A horrifying thought entered Logan’s mind. Was Picani not home at all? Had he forgotten to lock the bedroom door? Logan tried desperately to remember if he had heard the tell-tale noise before he fell asleep, but his mind came up blank.

With another jolt the tank was halfway off the table. The gravel had begun to shift, the first indicator Logan’s enclosure was now tilting. Through the gaps Logan could see the floor so far below. Logan tried to scramble away from the edge, but it did little good when the glass wall behind him continued to be pushed along. In fact, Logan’s movements only seemed to rile the cats up, causing the glass to move faster.

And then, Logan felt that dreaded pull as the bowl began to fall. Logan screamed, spilling out with a rush of water so he was truly in freefall. The mer had only moments to register his coming demise before he crashed into the carpeted floor.

Shockingly, Logan had not perished in the fall. Not shockingly, it was still unpleasant. Logan groaned, feeling some spare pellets slamming into his back as they came tumbling down. He ducked further into the carpet, covering the back of his neck as the tank finally landed and shattered above him. The remaining water splashed over Logan’s scales and one of the glass shards pinned his tail fin down, eliciting a whimper of pain.

A chorus of celebratory meows was heard, followed by the excited padding of feet as the three felines fought to race down from the shelf fastest.

 _“PICANI!”_  Logan cried out, looking desperately in the direction of the door. Surely if the human was home he would have heard all this clattering, right?

But no one came.

Logan coughed pathetically, already beginning to feel lightheaded from the lack of water as he glanced wearily up at his captors. Their grins did not bode well for Logan. Indeed, seconds after he noticed their fanged smiles, Logan felt his body get batted to the side by a paw. The mer let out a scream, feeling his tail fin painfully rip as he was forced away from the glass shard that had pinned it.

Now nearest to Marie, the female kitten began to hit him back and forth between her paws. Logan became disoriented, twirling around and around as he began to feel painfully dried out. Vaguely he was aware of the fact that he kept getting passed around from cat to cat, nothing more than a plaything now.

 _They’re toying with me._ Logan thought bitterly, tears collecting in his eyes.  Just flaunting their victory. He would certainly meet his demise soon enough now, why did he have to keep suffering?

Logan grit his teeth, nearly biting through his tongue as one of their harsher hits scraped a pair of claws across his back. They seemed to like his reaction to this, as gradually the playful movements became more violent, less caring of their claws.

The cats, for some unknown reason, stopped their relentless attacks, allowing Logan to gain his bearings. He looked up, spotting the three blurry figures above him seeming to be discussing something in their little feline language.

The mer began to feel dizzy, his breathing getting shallower. Everything hurt. He didn’t want to keep going. He was exhausted. Every bone in Logan’s tiny body ached to close his eyes and just enter an eternal sleep. With every toss Logan had found the idea more appealing. What did this realm have left to offer him? At least in some sort of afterlife Logan had the chance of seeing his brothers again.

 _“Just do it.”_ Logan’s voice came out as a desperate plead, his gills shivering.

Stitch seemed to agree with this sentiment. He brought his maw forwards, gathering Logan up to rest between his fangs. Logan shuddered, feeling the sharp teeth aggravate his injuries.

 _I suppose this it._  Logan thought, surprised to find he was scared. He didn’t want to die. How silly of him, especially since he asked for it. Logan closed his eyes, now just hoping it would be quick.

The last thing Logan heard before drifting off was the sound of thudding human footsteps.


End file.
